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Conversion Copywriting Resources

If you need to sell an online course, a high-ticket program, product or service…

Then, you might need a long-form sales page.

Because short pages just aren’t always enough to get online leads to say yes to a higher-priced purchase.

But where do you start writing a long-form sales page?

With a copywriting formula, of course – and one from a leading conversion copywriter, ideally.

There’s no conversion copywriter more trusted than Joanna Wiebe of Copyhackers.

And so it was a huge privilege when last summer, 2019, Joanna hired me to write a long-form sales page. It was for the launch of 10x Facebook Ads, one of the courses now inside Copy School, Copyhackers’ online training for copywriters, digital marketers and entrepreneurs.

If you haven’t taken Copy School and you write sales copy of any kind…

Before Copy School I’d written course sales pages… and they were fine. But the Copyhackers training gave me more sophisticated techniques, more confidence.

Especially when it comes to sales pages, which are some of the highest-pressure pieces of copy we write.

They’re long, it’s easy to get confused about the messaging hierarchy… and a sales page can make the difference between a so-so launch and a fantastic launch.

This post is not meant to be a substitute for taking 10x Sales Pages if copywriting is your responsibility. There is no substitute. But putting this outline together with examples helped me remember what goes where, how and why on the page.

Here’s how I used 10x Sales Pages

The Copy School training on sales pages has two “tracks”, each a course in itself.

Track one is by Joanna, teaching the classic sales page formula, Problem-Agitate-Solution, with a fancy Why-Try-Buy extension.

Track two is by Ry Schwartz and teaches his Coaching the Conversion method for sales page copy.

If you’ve been following online launches in recent years, you’ll have seen signature Schwartz sales pages in Amy Porterfield’s launches and elsewhere.

(Hint: You can spot it right away because of the pre-headline qualifier and question loop headline. More on that, below.)

You could use just one 10x Sales Pages track and run with it – write your entire sales page following either the Joanna or the Ry approach.

But I decided to use both.

Because Ry’s Coaching the Conversion felt more detailed on technique. Whereas Joanna’s track gave me a clear and memorable overview of the structure (or messaging hierarchy).

Here, I’ll share what that hybrid approach looked like as a page outline.

When you combine both 10x Sales Page methods in one long-form sales page…

You get something like the below, where the main headers are from Joanna’s PAS-Why-Try-Buy formula and the sub-sections are from Ry’s Coaching the Conversion method. (I’m an outline nerd, yes.)

This is more like a blueprint than a formula…

But it doesn’t do justice to the level of detail and guidance you’ll actually get inside Copy School. (Again – if you write copy, buy nothing else. Just Copy School.)

To illustrate each element here, I’m including screenshots from sales pages by well-know course creators.

1. Problem

Why nothing until now has worked to solve the most intense pain points your one reader feels.

Section 1: The Pre-Headline Qualifier*

Call out to reader by stating who it is you’re talking to. E.g. “Important question for conversion copywriters writing for course launches”.

Section 2: The Question Loop Headline*

Pose a question to that specific audience highlighting the gap between the desired outcome and the current pain points.

E.g. “What’s the difference between a copywriter who easily commands $5k for a sales page and a copywriter who struggles to get paid $500 for the same job?”

Section 3: The Lead

Expand on the Question Loop or the problem posed in the headline, unpacking the importance while ramping up the stakes in having it answered/solved.

Again, this one is by Copyhackers and from the 2020 Copy School launch

*Sidebar note about this whole question header approach:

Most sales page formulas start by defining the problem as a statement vs. Ry’s formula, which opens by posing a question.

You can choose to do either: start by stating the problem or start by asking a question.

If you start with a statement, you continue describing that problem as you move from the hero section to the “lead” or opening section of the sales page.

If you start with Ry’s question formula, you proceed by expanding on the question posed.

2. Agitate

Describe what life looks like now for your reader, in detail, versus what it could look like — emphasizing that it’s not your reader’s fault. Specifically, it’s not their fault because the solutions they’ve been offered before fell short in some important way.

Section 4: The Moment of Highest Tension

Describe a very specific low point or crisis moment when the reader felt the most intense symptoms of the problem you can solve. Where were they at that moment? What were they doing to cope? How did it feel in vivid, intense language?

Section 5: The Moment of Highest Pleasure

Now, what does your reader want instead of this persistent problem they have? What’s the dream?

Here, you validate that desired outcome stated as a specific moment: the “moment of highest pleasure”.

When the problem has been resolved, what will that moment of triumph look like? How will they know they’ve made it?

Highlight the friction between that dream and where your reader is now.

Section 6: Slaughtering The Sacred Cows/Belief Installation

This is a slightly trickier concept, so I’ll explain it in more depth here.

When Ry talks about slaughtering the sacred cows, he’s referring to a technique we use in sales pages where we undercut the beliefs holding your reader back from taking the next step. (Often, sunk costs of doing things the old way.)

For example, in Copy School, Copyhackers slaughters the belief that entrepreneurs just need fancier funnels to finally get growth. This myth perpetuates the pain entrepreneurs experience when their funnels don’t convert.

Then, when you’ve taken down those commonly-held beliefs, you install a new belief aligned with your solution. E.g. No, in fact, nothing will change in your business until you learn the critical skill of conversion copywriting.

Remind the reader of the symptoms they experience because they haven’t released the old beliefs. Reiterate the outcomes they can enjoy when they embrace the new beliefs (and your solution).

A beautifully concise example of the agitate section from The Copywriter Underground’s sales page. See how they’ve diagnosed the problem as STILL competing on Upwork because you don’t have the training, templates and advice?

3. Solution

Why other solutions have failed the one reader… as a set up to introduce the offer/your solution.

This is initially an extension of your argument above: why the current solutions your reader relies on aren’t working… but there’s a better solution available.

Snippet from Val Geisler’s Email Incubator sales page. Can you guess that this comes right before the introduction of the program?

Section 7: The Blue Ocean Bridge

Introduce the solution that will change everything and deliver the “moment of highest pleasure”.

My take on the blue ocean bridge/introducing the offer section

4. Why

Why YOU have the answer; why this solution was made to solve this very specific problem; and why it’s better than anything else for your reader.

Section 8: Solidifying Beliefs Part 1 (Your Bio)

Tell the story of what brought you to create this solution for your reader.

Emphasize how you stand with them against the common enemy (their barriers to achieving the desired outcome).

Another fab Copyhackers excerpt, this one from the launch of Content School in 2019. It goes on to tell how this investment in content paid off.

Section 9: Solidifying Beliefs Part 2 (Testimonials)

Insert a client/customer story here, defining life before they had your solution, the tipping point that caused them to seek your solution and life after, with your solution.

Testimonial from 10x Facebook Ads – this is just ONE testimonial, but you should be inserting proofs throughout the sales page anywhere you need to back up a claim.

Section 10: The Product Reveal

Introduce the full product/solution by name, stating the promise, reiterating the moment of highest tension, aka the most painful problem.

In this alternative bonus close, you wrap by posing a challenge for the reader to realize the quickest viable win with the minimum of effort.

If they put in this minimum investment of effort, what quick win can they realize? E.g. Can they write their first pain-free Facebook ad campaign?

Remind them they’re covered by the guarantee if for any reason they don’t realize this quick win.

Note: I’m still searching through my sales page swipe files for a good example of this final, bonus close. (Is everybody just exhausted from writing sales pages at this point??)

Alright, deep breath. That was a mouthful.

If you follow this sales page blueprint, you’re going to write very long copy

Like, 3x longer than anything you’ve written, potentially.

The final copy for my 10x FB Ads sales page was ~9,000 words. (3,000 to 4,000 words is considered a long sales page, for context.)

But Joanna went with it. “People who spend time spend money,” she said when I apologized for the length.

Using this blueprint makes for long sales pages for two reasons:

a) It challenges you to take a long journey with your reader. A journey that starts by diving deeply into the problem. And as a sales tool, it includes arguments from angles you might not have considered.

b) If you follow the Copyhackers methods, you know it’s all about customer research. Schwartz’s method gives you 67 questions to answer about your ideal buyer and your relationship to that audience before you even start writing. When you do that level of research, you have a lot of insight to work with… and it’s hard not to want to use it all.

But does a sales page have to be THIS long?

Colder audiences with lower awareness of the problem and solution need a longer journey – they need to be made aware before they can buy into your specific solution.

Warmer audiences with a higher degree of awareness often don’t. But a long sales page won’t deter them from buying.

Case in point: When I bought Copy School, I knew before it launched that I wanted to buy the course, but I had some moderate objections around the price. I didn’t need the top-of-page persuasion, but I did need to be reminded of all the value inside the program. (Copy you find around the middle of the page.)

The long copy is there to tip the undecided toward a fully-informed decision.

You want your reader – even skimming – to find such a dazzling number of reasons to believe in the value you offer, that even if their gaze only brushes over the subheadlines, they’re sold.

Want to see what a sales page looks like using this blueprint?

The more exposure you have to the flow of a sales page, the more natural it feels.

That’s why I always keep tabs on the latest course launches from leading digital marketers, read and save their sales pages for later reference.

Remember that most sales pages disappear after the launch period. So, if you don’t have a collection of sales page swipe files, you might not be able to find examples when you need them.

That’s why I love that Ry’s 10x Sales Pages track includes three IRL examples of sales page copy for each section he teaches. When I need to write a sales page, I refer back to those examples repeatedly.

Feel free to review the first draft of my 10x Facebook Ads sales page at your leisure in this Google doc. Make a copy in your own drive and play around with the techniques I’ve described above to write your own sales pages. (Just note that this 10x one is copyrighted by Copyhackers.)

You’ll notice that in the draft version, we went with the open-loop question headline – as per Ry’s method. But in the final, published version, we went with a statement of the problem. You can choose either approach for your sales page.

Which brings me to the final point.

Sales pages are formulaic… but the formulas can be adapted

Once you know the purpose of each element, you have more freedom. You can make informed decisions about what makes sense for your specific audience and your specific offer.

Great sales pages aren’t as templated as you might expect. They’re a fluid conversation with your audience, which is only possible because you’ve done the deep research to get inside their heads.

The framework keeps you from going off the rails. The deep insight makes those moments on the edge of the rails powerful.

…

If you need help with a long-form sales page, reach out and ask. We offer sales page coaching and done-for-you sales page copywriting.

Note: As of today, March 21, 2020, marketers are wondering what to do about customer acquisition and retention at a time when everything has shifted. It’s a time when brands can’t coast with copy that converts so-so. We all have to tighten our value propositions – and get better at expressing our value in sales copy. I hope this guide helps.

But what are the messages every brand needs?

When you’ve been writing copy for a while, you realize there are a set of ideas that we weave into every piece of a brand’s sales copy.

Only, you usually can’t find a list of these messages in guides for writing conversion copy.

Which means, most marketers and copywriters don’t where to start pulling together a playbook for brand copy.

Over dozens of projects, we honed in on a core set of messages every brand needs… plus the guidelines to use them.

When we go through this process with brands of all kinds, they use their Conversion Copy DNA to write websites, emails, landing pages, fundraisers, lead magnets, social copy and ad copy…

Read on to learn the key elements you may need in your brand’s copywriting playbook. These include the customer-facing pieces of copy you can’t write without PLUS internal guidelines to help the team stay on track with your messaging strategy.

Defining the Problem You Solve

This element of your “DNA” is the foundation of your messaging. Every brand message stems from the problem you solve.

Problem-Agitate-Solution… it’s a famous copywriting formula for good reason. Starting with the problem gets the attention of the audience experiencing that pain.

That’s why you can’t separate this message from the one below.

First, you have to deeply know your audience to write the most powerful expression of the problem you solve.

Write the problem copy as soon as you have a real handle on how your perfect buyer experiences the problem emotionally, practically, spiritually, existentially… from every angle.

Who You Say Your Brand Serves

Copy that converts calls out to your perfect reader. There’s a sales copy technique Copyhackers teaches called the “perfect for you if” close.

In that closer copy, you list the characteristics, experiences, qualifications, beliefs and needs that make a specific audience perfect for your offer.

Demographics are not quite enough (and would sound really odd in your copy). Psychographics and behaviours are what we want here.

Write that “perfect for you if” list before you write a single piece of sales copy.

And remember, specificity sells. Sure, everyone may need affirmation, security, etc., etc. But what does that look, feel and sound like for the individual you serve?

Does affirmation mean your buyer’s teenage daughter will finally talk to her mom for more than 5 seconds passing through the hall? Does it mean the CEO will let the HR manager into critical business decisions?

Your Unique Solution

Your solution isn’t necessarily your offer. It can be the broader vehicle for delivering that offer.

E.g. conversion copywriting for brands is a solution; creating a brand’s Conversion Copy DNA is an offer.
Remember that your solution exists in a category of solutions.

Often in copy we have to just say what it is. What’s this thing we do?

Based on competitor research, you can frame your solution in terms of how other solutions fall short or how you’re positioned relative to these other solutions. This leads into your unique value proposition.

Write the solution copy once you’ve nailed down the best articulation of your problem statement.

Unique Value Proposition

Your unique value proposition (UVP) or unique selling proposition (USP) should be captured in a single statement and backed by proofs.

For example:

Value proposition: Copy School is single education program that teaches the proven methods for writing copy that converts across the funnel.

Proofs: That’s because x companies and # of copywriters trust Copyhackers methods to generate control-shattering lifts in revenue and creator, Joanna Wiebe, is the original conversion copywriter, recognized as the top conversion copywriter in the industry.

From our work with MECLABS, we adopted a heuristic – or formula – for developing the value proposition. In essence, it’s a guideline that reminds us of what makes a value proposition powerful.

A value proposition that moves people to sign-up and buy has these elements:

As always, make sure your UVP is tightly connected with what you know your ideal audience wants, what else they’ve considered and what they believe. You can find this in your voice-of-customer research.

The UVP has to align with every other message in your Conversion Copy DNA… which is why creating this complete set of conversion-optimized messages is iterative.

To make things interesting, you should have a value proposition not only for your brand (your primary value proposition), but also for each prospect or segment, each product or service and each step in the conversion path.

People say “yes” each time because they buy-into the value. Make sure you’re reminding them of that value every time.

The Big Idea Behind Your Brand

The Big Idea is shrouded in mystery and myth.

Ogilvy famously said that he only created about 20 Big Ideas in his career… And his process for getting to one? Essentially, passive.

Wait for the Big Idea to emerge from your subconscious, he suggested.

Which isn’t very useful for conversion copywriters.

Because few experts have truly clarified the Big Idea, most marketers shrink at the prospect of creating one and too many brands go without.

And that’s a loss.

Because a Big Idea can generate enough desire in your prospect to carry them through the entire funnel and even drive retention.

Done right, the Big Idea can bring your brand to life in a way that emotionally connects and breaks through the clutter.

Great, but what is a Big Idea?

The Big Idea isn’t ephemeral and doesn’t drift our way on the winds of inspiration. According to Joanna Wiebe, it’s a succinct expression of your perfect audience’s deep desire, connected to your brand’s promise.

So, how do we get to that Big Idea?

Ogilvy may have stopped short of telling us how to alchemize the Big Idea, but he nailed the essential material: research.

Look for what your audience believes they’re entitled to – what they believe they should have, but that hasn’t yet been fulfilled or has been taken from them. (This is pure Copyhackers gold, once again.)

For Copyhackers’ Copy School, the Big Idea is that conversion copywriters should be recognized as critical to growth. But on many teams, they’re not because there’s too much guesswork around conversion-optimized messaging…

But if copywriters have a proven process and methodology… if they know how to get to the highest ROI, they can fulfill that destiny of “being the most profitable person in the room”. (The Big Idea behind Copyhackers’ Copy School.)

So, look for that desire or that outright sense of entitlement, loss, missed destiny.

In the intersection of that unfulfilled desire and the outcome you promise is your Big Idea.

Once you’ve found it, what do you do with a Big Idea?

Use it as the driving energy underlying audience-facing copy and visual creative. Every message and every visual should reinforce that Big Idea, whether you state it outright or not.

In a perfect world, the Big Idea is baked into your brand and offer. That is, what you created was – from the start – a response to that deep desire you recognized in your audience.

Sometimes we have to reverse-engineer the Big Idea. But now that you know what it is and how to confirm it through audience research, you can articulate this powerful element in your brand’s Conversion Copy DNA.

Core Offers

Not every brand messaging guide will need to detail the offer.

If your brand covers a wide range of different offers, you won’t be able to fit offer copy in your brand messaging guide. If you have very few offers tightly connected to the brand, you can include offer copy in your copywriting playbook.

Write your core offer copy to explain how you deliver that unique value through services or products.

Offer copy can be written as a mini sales page – a microcosm of a complete sales message, including:

• Who it’s for
• When/why/if they need it
• What the offer is
• Benefits associated with this specific offer
• What’s included/what they get exactly
• Process/what to expect
• Pricing
• Call-to-action

It makes sense to write your offer copy once you’ve written your primary or brand value proposition. The value proposition of your product or service is a more specific promise of value.

Outcomes, Benefits, Features

If your ideal buyer takes you up on the solution or specific offer, what will they get?

There are three main levels.

1) The outcomes or transformation the ideal buyer may experience.

2) The emotional and functional benefits available to the buyer.

3) The features or functional attributes designed to deliver these benefits and outcomes.

Here’s the nuance: you can write these at the level of the brand and at the level of the offer. It depends on how deep you want to go in your guide.

The key is to tie the above in with the problem, solution and UVP, so it feels like a logical extension. And always root this messaging in the voice-of-the-customer.

Note the italics, above. Unless you’re writing a promise (below), don’t phrase these as legal promises. Not every buyer will realize the outcomes or benefits because they may not use the service or product to its fullest.

Promise (The Outcome You Stand Behind)

Some marketers say the brand promise is only for internal use as a guideline for quality, customer experience, etc. Like service standards.

Joanna would disagree.

Inside Copy School, she defines the promise as a statement of a measurable, highly- desirable outcome. And one you can stand behind, legally.

Sometimes the promise is implied in the benefits, which is why the line between benefits and a promise can blur.

You, however, should be clear about what you’re promising and under what conditions.

Choose one of the outcomes you’ve defined and make it your brand promise.

In long-form sales copy you’ll sometimes need to describe what life looks like after your customer has realized the promise. Go ahead and draft that, too.

Don’t get too hung up on the measurability. Even Copyhackers doesn’t minutely quantify the enhanced competence you’ll enjoy when you exploit all the value in Copy School.

Why You? (Your Story + Authority)

A central tenet of copywriting: copy isn’t about “we”, “our”, “us” or “I”. Whenever you can, flip the phrasing to be less about the brand and more about the reader.

BUT, you still have to convey why they should trust you to solve the problem and deliver all of that value you’ve described until now.

Your brand’s messaging DNA should include your “why story” – usually set up as a hero’s journey, in which the customer is the hero. How did your brand come to the place where you realized the hero needed the solution you provide?

Sometimes you’re so identified with the audience (because you needed the solution, personally), you can position yourself as the hero who went before. Now, you’re the “guide on the side”, leading the ideal customer to the big outcomes and benefits.

Consider this a bio. Once you’ve told the story of “why” include points on what gives you the authority or credentials to deliver. (We get into this in Proofs, below, too.)

A final element is the “prism of value” (as per Joanna Wiebe, again).

If the customer were to see everything that went into the production of the solution you provide, what would they see? How many years, experts, consultations, iterations or rounds of trial and error went into the creation of this solution?

Note that the “prism of value” also works at the offer level.

Proofs (Reasons to Believe)

Proofs are often referred to in branding as “reasons to believe”.

You see proofs under nearly every hero section on a homepage (think the client logo line-up). And you really drive home proofs as you get to the close in sales copy.

If the benefit you offer is high-converting copy, then proofs should include training in conversion optimization, endorsements from conversion experts and actual lifts in conversion rates.

Risk Reversals & Closer Copy

This is “seal the deal” copy.

Some risk reversals and closer copy only make sense in specific offers. Others can apply to your entire brand.

The intent is to nudge the reader past fears and objections you identified in voice-of-customer research.
For example:

• Do you have any guarantees? (Not to be confused with proofs; guarantees are more like insurance when things go wrong)
• What’s the ROI on the investment? (Sometimes this is the promise, above)
• What’s the risk of doing nothing/missing out?
• What calls-to-action will you use most often?

These are sales messages often missed in classic brand messaging, but as a conversion optimizer, you’re savvier. Ask yourself whether these classic tools of sales copy can boost the power of your brand.

Elevator Pitch

The elevator pitch is a sweet, little summary of the rest of your brand messaging. Which is why you’ll typically write this last – after you’ve developed your complete set of core messages.

Your elevator pitch is the most concise statement of the problem you solve, for what target audience, why and why you’re better. It may include a call-to-action.

Elevator pitches are useful for all sorts of short copy and live sales.

Slogan and/or Tagline

AdAge tells us taglines don’t position your brand; slogans do.

Many, many brands only have one short phrase – either a slogan or tagline – and I wouldn’t split hairs over the definition. Tagline seems the more commonly used term.

The point is to have a concise, memorable statement that expresses your unique value proposition (UVP) and often, the Big Idea.

When you’re newer or what you offer is less understood, focus on a statement that expresses your UVP.

You need clarity and buy-in at this stage because people don’t know why they should choose you.

If you’re established, you can run with a Big Idea. (Like Nike’s “Just do it.”)

Don’t rush the tagline. Like the elevator pitch, it’s one of the things you’ll write last because the rest of the messaging informs the tagline.

Vision, Mission, Values

I’ve left this to near the end because it’s complicated.

Vision, mission and values (VMV) are part organizational development, part branding. Ideally, these statements should be both internal guidelines and audience-facing.

• Vision is what you aim to achieve in the long-term
• Mission is how you’re working towards that vision
• Values are what you’ll embody as you deliver the mission

VMV aren’t typically used as sales copy – and for good reason. Too many brands create brand-centric statements that leave audiences cold.

While creating your VMV, think about how you can put the customer front and centre. You’ve already answered the most important questions above – now pull them in here:

What are you trying to achieve for them? (Go ahead and be inspirational)

How do you do that?

What do you stand for that matters to your customers?

What about the elements of brand messaging that aren’t customer-facing?

Everything we’ve covered until now can be used as plug-and-play copy. You incorporate the above elements into copy for pages, email, ads… using proven copywriting formulas.

But next up we’re covering additions to your guide that are for internal use only.

Positioning Statement

Your positioning statement keeps everyone inside the brand focused on what you do best, for what audience.

Without a positioning statement, it’s easy for marketers to chase every opportunity… dilute their impact and lose brand equity.

You can develop your positioning statement as a one-pager and keep it front-and-centre with your team.

The statement should summarize elements you’ve already developed, but go ahead and keep these in concise bullets.

Include:

• The core problem you solve for what target audience
• What category you play in and how you’re better than any competitor or alternative (think your UVP here)
• The outcomes and benefits you deliver for that target
• Support points (can be functional attributes or proofs)

Tone, Voice, Vocabulary

You’ve nailed down the WHAT of your messaging. Now, HOW will you say it?

Cap off your copywriting playbook with any tone, voice and vocabulary guidelines that will make it easier to write copy on- brand – even if you have multiple writers.

Include a list of words you use vs. words you avoid. Sometimes those inside the brand will know the preferred vocabulary.

Of course, insight into tone, voice and vocabulary also comes from voice-of-customer and competitor research.

What tone and voice will resonate with your customers? How can it be distinct from the tone and voice your competitors use?

Where can you swipe actual terms your customers use and include those in your list of go-to vocabulary?What words will leave them cold?

Even though this section is for internal purposes, it should be firmly rooted in your research insights.

Optional: On-Brand Copy Snippets

This isn’t a technical term:) But as you write your brand’s Conversion Copy DNA, you’ll inevitably generate pieces of copy that might not fit under the above buckets.

While I’m coming up with the tagline or Big Idea, I create a long list of options. The ones that don’t make it into the core messages – but still convey the selling idea – I keep in a list of handy phrases.

Use these phrases for inspiration or for everyday copy – social media captions, email subject lines, page headlines and cross-headers…

You don’t necessarily need to laminate this list in a designed brand messaging guide. Just keep it handy.
Which leads to a final question…

What does the finished copy playbook/brand messaging guide look like?

It depends.

Some clients will use a finalized, designed brand guide that may include visual brand guidelines (colors, fonts, image use, etc.) They use this guide to orient team members and brief external marketers, tightly managing adherence.

Others keep these messages in a Google doc and update it regularly as they learn from the market.

When do you know your brand copy is optimized?

The tricky part with optimizing any piece of brand copy is that it’s iterative.

We may guess at the target audience at the outset, but as we get closer to defining the problem you solve and your UVP, we may realize that audience was a bit off. Or not specific enough.

So, you go back and revise – always based on data-driven insight.

But this takes skill and another kind of discipline. If you tweak one message, you need to understand how that change affects other messages. It’s like crafting a story, really. The throughline needs to be there.

You’re ready to go live with that messaging when:

There’s a tight link between all the pieces; each reinforces the other

All of the messages clearly and persuasively argue for why you’re different and better in a way that matters a lot to your specific audience

Now what?

Go forth and write on-brand copy that’s optimized to convert

The next steps are to take your Conversion Copy DNA, your brand messaging guide, your copywriting
playbook… whatever you choose to call it, and use those messages to write all of your marketing assets.

Having a brand messaging guide won’t instantly turn you into a copywriter.

It does take studying copywriting formulas and lining up your sales copy with your customer’s journey.

But it will be so much easier when you have one source of swipeable, plug-and-play, on-brand copy.

And when it comes to testing, you’ll be testing a hypothesis, versus random elements on a page… which is a topic for another post.

If you need help creating your brand’s Conversion Copy DNA, drop us a line.

Conversion XL (CXL) came out with a branding course not much later… after a while of Peep Laja dropping hints in that direction. Case in point:

“The world has a massive sameness problem. Like ridiculously huge.

It’s one of the key obstacles for most companies. Most are working on incremental improvements instead of differentiation. Because it’s hard. It involves risk and changes, venturing into the unknown…

In the end, you can’t compete on features, (most) everything that you that works will be copied. You might have a 2-year runway. The differentiation has to come from other places than features (and the work on it never ends really).

Yet – very little of value has been written on differentiation – while it’s an essential part of the brand and strategy, company’s ability to compete in general.”

That was before the lock-down changed our horizons. A “2-year runway” sounds pretty incredible now, at a time when companies are wondering if they have a two-month or two-week runway.

February 2020 seems like an era of incredible decadence. Back when we were naive and could tinker with the bright bauble of branding. (I already have a cartoon version of business pre-COVID in my mind and it involves that Monopoly man throwing around cash.)

But today, we know one thing. We should be ruthlessly prioritizing. That’s what those who have gone before us in recessions say.

Meanwhile, we’re compulsively checking the news, checking in on each other.

And it’s hard to tear our hearts and minds from where they were pre-COVID.

Sadly, just as COVID doesn’t care whether you were sparking with someone on Tinder before remain-in-place orders, it doesn’t care if you were on the brink of creating an amazing brand.

Maybe you were in launch phase before COVID with a nascent brand, and now an agency seems out of the question.

Or maybe you have a small business and before COVID, you were thinking, hmmm, maybe we upgrade our website, differentiate from the competitor brands…

But now all that’s on hold.

Let me tell you:

A) Branding wasn’t just a dream from the peak of prosperity. It still matters, but only if it’s data-driven and focused on acquisition, retention.

B) If you can carve out time for deep thought (hard right now, I know), you can get smarter and more focused about the only important brand question:

Why you’re different and better – and how to prove that to your perfect customers.

And then I’m going to teach as much as possible on this blog… with the assumption that any promise made today may seem ridiculous tomorrow.

But what I think always remains true? Even in times of chaos, we crave beauty, harmony, coherence and the sense that taking that next action (that click, that sign-up) really will improve our lives.

That’s how I think of optimizing brand messages to convert.

So, even though times are lean, we never have to go back to hideously transparent direct response BUY NOW copy (in yellow highlighter) and infomercial-style writing that triggers every “is this even a company?” alert in a visitor’s mind.

Even if you DIY your brand messaging, you can make it credible, clear and persuasive. Click the link above to find out how.

Before I had kids I actually read Infinite Jest, a book is so long and dense, it’s the subject of jokes about people who only play music on records and hand-grind coffee.

In my defence, I remember almost nothing except this one scene:

The narrator as a kid eats toxic mould and on the discovery, his mother just runs around in circles in the backyard in hysterics, holding aloft the mould.

I am that mom. My entire experience having children is that suddenly, there’s too much risk in the world.

But it’s the same for brand owners.

Brands can be too risk-averse – and it hurts every aspect of their advertising

And I get it.

The big brands we see are so safe. Putting something polarizing out there… What if people don’t like it?

Here’s the thing. Some people 100% will either not like it or not get it. You know how the rest of this argument goes if you’ve read anything about niching or the power of point of view.

But, it gets tricky when we move into testing and validation.

Which, as good conversion copywriters, we should be helping our clients to do.

This is sometimes like letting our kids ask every other kid in their class what they really think of them.

Noooo, please do not do that!!!

It only really matters what a select few think. As a brand owner or manager, you should never be hostage to any and all user feedback. (Just because they clicked on your ad or bought from you once? That doesn’t mean their opinion should hold weight.)

Why we need to take data and testing with a grain of salt

Suzie talked about the tension between really listening and filtering out what’s actually just noise.

Because it’s one thing to be tuned into voice-of-customer and to be all about testing. And it’s another to be so influenced by data that you forget the core of your brand.

Your brand is the value you deliver for a very specific buyer.

For Suzie, that means it doesn’t really matter if the data shows middle-aged men are clamouring for meat-flavoured snack bars. That’s not her bag. She’s spent enough time talking face-to-face with her ideal buyer to know that some trends aren’t relevant to her target audience.

We can even ignore feedback from those in your perfect demographic (or industry if you’re B2B) who aren’t at the right stage of awareness.

Like my parents, who actually do run a business and at important networking events introduce me like this:

“This is our sweetie and she’s just the best-est writer!!” (Love you guys!)

They’re not aware of conversion rate optimization. And that’s cool – it’s also why I don’t ask them what they think of my website, though. Or write marketing collateral for other business owners who just ‘need a wordsmith’ and think conversion copywriting is too expensive.

(And feedback that it’s “too expensive”? Don’t change your price quite yet. Chances are, they either don’t see a point of difference or they’re not the right buyer.)

So, yes, ASK. Ask away. But remember that not everyone’s opinion has a place in your testing and validation.

If you’re a start-up, focus on a core group of influencers

“Start-ups should deploy a craft brand strategy. To stand out, you must be utterly different to a core group of trend influencers who are frustrated with the major competitors. You must be willing to take a “high risk/high reward” strategy. It is O.K. if your brand alienates those who are not yet ready to take on something new. Playing it too safe will lead to your destruction. Do not worry about the mass audience, and avoid trying to be too big, too fast.” (p. 61)

Influencer strategy aside, what Robertson is saying is that you can only cut through the noise if you’re markedly different.

And the way to do that is to speak to a very specific audience’s unmet needs.

For copy that converts, tighten your target market

Again, turning to Beloved Brands, Robertson says, “There is a myth that a bigger target will make a brand bigger, so the scared marketer targets “everyone”… Spreading your limited resources across an entire population is completely cost-prohibitive… This fear of missing out (FOMO) gives your brand a lower return on investment and eventually will drain your brand’s limited resources.” (p. 77)

Graham explains how to divide up the market to identify the most motivated possible audience, using three categories of segmentation:

Consumer profiling: demographics, socio-economic, geographic/channels, current or new customers

And because I know this worries a lot of brand managers, we’ll get more granular about what it really means to zero in on a target.

How big is your actual target market?

When I’m like Hal’s mom, running around in circles figuratively, it helps to put the risk in the context of the numbers.

In this case, what is the actual size of your target market? Chances are, even if it’s niche, it’s enormous.

Let’s quickly work through this to show how profitable it can be to focus your marketing on a narrower audience.

For example, say you’re selling a healthy packaged food to American women. Or a meal kit delivery, or a nutrition-related course.

Now, we know age and gender don’t entirely determine purchasing behavior, but it’s a starting place. (Especially since your ad targeting, creative direction and other choices often force you into thinking this way.)

Unless you’re P&G, that market is too big. And we know that trying to connect with too large an audience only dilutes the effectiveness of the message. You simply can’t be specific enough in your copywriting and visual creative with an audience that large.

Now we’re getting into consumer behavior and psychographic data… And it looks like the 25 – 34 demographic has the highest potential. That’s about 20 million women.

But your product isn’t cheap and is best suited to women facing time pressures – working women. So, let’s narrow further to the top 25% of income earners. That’s still about 5 million prospective customers. Even if 1% of those bought $100 worth of product from you a year, you’d generate $5M from that demographic alone.

Being exclusive – and inclusive – in finding your target market

By slicing the market that way, we can do more interesting things with copywriting. We can talk to a very specific audience and:

Empathize with their very specific lives

Point to specific life goals

Show and write about the things that interest them

Reflect their likely values and attitudes

Counter their specific objections

Show proofs of authority that matter to them

Make offers in the ways they prefer to buy

And specifics like these sell – or convert, as we like to say.

But as Robertson says, by being focused on a target, we don’t overtly exclude those outside the target. People outside of that bracket will still resonate with your brand and buy.

Which is a loaded topic…

Because there is a rising awareness of inclusiveness in marketing. And so while certain creative and advertising decisions may force you to zero in on an age group, gender, socio-economic position… I’d color outside of those demographic lines deliberately.

Here’s why and how.

The demographics only bring you closer to the psychographics

Starting with demographics is, well, a starting place. It reassures us, as I’ve said, that we can go narrow.

But once you start to understand that audience, it makes more sense today to build the brand, the creative and write the copy to the psychographics and behaviors.

And then be inclusive in the representations of people who mirror your buyer. Chances are, they could be younger, older, any gender, orientation, skin colour.

This is difficult because first, we have to make assumptions about the buyer. And then we have to question those assumptions.

It can be harder to find, validate and test advertising based on psychographics and behavior vs. demographics.

Instead of just dropping the age range into the targeting of a Facebook ad, you have to think about their interests, where they hang out, what else they might buy.

Instead of targeting a group on LinkedIn based on their job title or industry, you have to question whether they’re in the frame of mind to choose your solution.

Instead of taking feedback from everyone on your list, you have to consider which of those are really ideal and not accidental customers.

Otherwise, the results are skewed. Testing and validation only matter if you can get feedback from that ideal buyer, with the right awareness and intent.

That’s where qualitative research becomes so valuable to offset quantitative. Interviewing and surveying real people can often tell you more of value than clicks.

Being niche is competitive. Being cluttered is not.

As brand owners, almost all of us can take more risks by being more niche. More personal. More relevant. More specific.

Robertson uses examples of Five Guys Burgers and Dollar Shave as “craft brands”. Both went in the opposite direction of the mainstream… and the rest is history valued in the billions.

In short: Your target audience can develop a tighter bond with your niche brand than they can with mass-market brands. Because they see themselves in you.

So, the risk that we’ll be too polarizing is really in our minds.

The real risk?

On the other end of the spectrum are what Robertson calls “cluttered brands”.

“They get stuck in the cluttered mess of the market, without a defined target market or a defined point of difference. Consumers cannot describe them, and worse, the brands cannot express themselves. These brands lack a loyal base of customers and are unable to generate any positive growth or price premiums. They end up as an indifferent commodity, disconnected from consumer needs…” (and he goes on to paint the picture of total brand decay – see page 63)

You might be wondering…

Why is a conversion copywriter so opinionated on the topic of brand positioning?

As a copywriter, I see fuzzy positioning at the core of conversion problems every day. The perfect headline, call to action, email, ad… we can’t write any of those persuasively unless we know exactly who we’re talking to.

And our clients won’t see results if they vacillate around the question of who they’re for. If that target changes too often… if we allow ourselves to be pulled in all directions by data from a broader group, the tests simply aren’t valid tests.

That’s why the question we’re obsessed with around here is how our clients can be different and better to a very specific audience.

And suddenly your phone makes a panic-inducing sound at top volume, accompanied by this text:

Followed a bit later by this “the thing we said wasn’t an emergency really isn’t an emergency” text.

Issued with another the-world-is-absolutely-ending sound.

Facebook that day was exploding with sarcastic “marked safe” memes.

At least a quarter of the province was having an apoplectic fit – based on my sweeping assessment of personality type distribution.

But can you imagine the employee who hit SEND on those? That’s the story I want to hear.

This is not to minimize real public emergencies. (We are so lucky here in Canada.)

It’s to say, mistakes happen.

For most of us, anything that goes “wrong” in copy can be fixed and forgotten.

And thank goodness.

Because when you hand over your client’s brand messaging – their “Conversion Copy DNA” – you open up more room for, erm, creative interpretation.

Suddenly they’re empowered with the messages and they get the WHY.

And that’s a good thing.

But they also have to know what messages to put where.

And that does take copywriting training. As in, deep time inside Copyhackers’ Copy School. Or, very close attention to the proven copywriting formulas.

The other week my Copy DNA client soft-launched their brand and I jumped on sharing it…

Only to realize as the days progressed, the copy kept morphing. Sections disappeared. New pieces appeared. Bits cropped up in unexpected places.

I watched it unfold, thinking about all the people in my network who KNOW what good copy looks like…

More importantly, visitors were getting confused. Because the hierarchy of messaging matters.

You can’t move pieces around or leave pieces out without missing steps in the conversation with your reader. The risk is that you end up sounding something like, “Here’s a problem you may have. Now buy this. Bye now.”

Conversion copy is the crafting of an intricate argument that follows the train of your visitor’s thoughts. Sequentially.

Lessons learned from this?

1) As a copywriter, don’t assume everyone else gets why every single line of copy is essential.

Clients, designers, developers… they all have reasons to make changes. Maybe they want the pages to be shorter or to fit a template layout.

It’s up to us to explain why, based on the visitor’s likely awareness, each piece of copy has earned its way.

In that exact order.

And that conversation is a lot more dignified if it happens before the pages go live. Because after it goes live, you just look like a diva who’s defensive about her copy. Rather than a messaging pro, who knows what converts.

And then, when the client sees the numbers and despairs, you have your work cut out explaining why every piece that was changed could be at the root of the problem.

That’s a very time-consuming process on par with doing a line-by-line copy audit.

2) As a marketer, designer, developer, if you’re thinking of rearranging the copy…

Talk to the copywriter first.

Find out why they included that piece so you know the implications of nixing it or moving it. Otherwise, you might find traffic bouncing for very simple reasons.

…

So, not a copywriting emergency…

Because unless you have send-all access to the cell phones of the world, the internet is a massive place where most people are ignoring us.

But it did have me refreshing my screen way too many times on the weekend.

Everything I know about Baltimore and Agora Financial combined you could fit on...VIEW POST

Testimonial Slider

“From research to writing to retrospectives, Anna is an absolute pro to work with. Her copy is great. And working with her is a dream - especially if hitting deadlines and producing fab work matters to you.”

- Joanna Wiebe, Founder, Copyhackers

"We hired Anna for a day of consulting on our pitch deck to raise series A funding from top-tier investors for our AI chip. I'm happy to say her strategies and feedback were instrumental in raising a US $20M funding round. Plus, we took away conversion techniques we'll apply to all of our sales, including…

- Darrick Wiebe, CTO, Untether AI

"Neovora markets digital products and productized services to local businesses across the US. Anna worked with us to create and optimize all the copy in our funnels, from ads and lead magnets to sales pages, webinars and email marketing. She knows a lot about the art and science of online marketing and it came through…

- JR East, Neovora.com

"Anna has an innate ability to understand what we are trying to say and succinctly put those ideas into written format. Timely in her reply and enthusiastic with her participation in our projects. I would l highly recommend Anna for all your written content needs."

"Oh my goodness this is seriously PERFECT!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Anna!!!!

XOXO, Rachel"

- Rachel McMichael, Business with Impact Society

"For years, we weren’t marketing digitally. Anna put our digital presence on the map and dramatically increased online sales within the first year of launching our new site. She was instrumental in developing winning positioning and the copy we now use everywhere."

- CEO, Natural Calm Canada

"It’s rare to find a copywriter who is both results and customer-driven. Anna is a dedicated, passionate, smart and talented writer. If you want your website to speak to your customers and convert them you should hire her yesterday."

- Talia Wolf, GetUplift

I was struggling to find words that were true to my brand AND which would resonate with my market. Anna helped me find the balance. By the end of the project, I had a "DNA" foundation with 50+ phrases that struck a chord with my market. Most important - they were tailored to where my…

- Tim Berthold, Sunny's Goldens

Anna was incredible to work with, very pro in her copy DNA process and ‘weaponized’ us with the messaging our organization needed.

- James Woller, International Executive Director, Thrive

Anna’s landing page copy has consistently brought in 40% of our firm revenues for a staff of 40+ FTEs over the past two years. These conversions have been worth 8 figures, multiple times over.

- Scott Gettis, Precision Tax Relief

Testimonial Slider

“From research to writing to retrospectives, Anna is an absolute pro to work with. Her copy is great. And working with her is a dream - especially if hitting deadlines and producing fab work matters to you.”

- Joanna Wiebe, Founder, Copyhackers

"We hired Anna for a day of consulting on our pitch deck to raise series A funding from top-tier investors for our AI chip. I'm happy to say her strategies and feedback were instrumental in raising a US $20M funding round. Plus, we took away conversion techniques we'll apply to all of our sales, including…

- Darrick Wiebe, CTO, Untether AI

"Neovora markets digital products and productized services to local businesses across the US. Anna worked with us to create and optimize all the copy in our funnels, from ads and lead magnets to sales pages, webinars and email marketing. She knows a lot about the art and science of online marketing and it came through…

- JR East, Neovora.com

"Anna has an innate ability to understand what we are trying to say and succinctly put those ideas into written format. Timely in her reply and enthusiastic with her participation in our projects. I would l highly recommend Anna for all your written content needs."

"Oh my goodness this is seriously PERFECT!!!!! Thank you SO MUCH Anna!!!!

XOXO, Rachel"

- Rachel McMichael, Business with Impact Society

"For years, we weren’t marketing digitally. Anna put our digital presence on the map and dramatically increased online sales within the first year of launching our new site. She was instrumental in developing winning positioning and the copy we now use everywhere."

- CEO, Natural Calm Canada

"It’s rare to find a copywriter who is both results and customer-driven. Anna is a dedicated, passionate, smart and talented writer. If you want your website to speak to your customers and convert them you should hire her yesterday."

- Talia Wolf, GetUplift

I was struggling to find words that were true to my brand AND which would resonate with my market. Anna helped me find the balance. By the end of the project, I had a "DNA" foundation with 50+ phrases that struck a chord with my market. Most important - they were tailored to where my…

- Tim Berthold, Sunny's Goldens

Anna was incredible to work with, very pro in her copy DNA process and ‘weaponized’ us with the messaging our organization needed.

- James Woller, International Executive Director, Thrive

Anna’s landing page copy has consistently brought in 40% of our firm revenues for a staff of 40+ FTEs over the past two years. These conversions have been worth 8 figures, multiple times over.

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Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 3, 2019

Captivate Content Inc. (“us”, “we”, or “our”) operates the www.conversioncopyco.com website (the “Service”). This page informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data when you use our Service and the choices you have associated with that data.

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If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your Children has provided us with Personal Data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected Personal Data from children without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.

We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our Service, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “effective date” at the top of this Privacy Policy.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us: